2013/06/13: CNN: Summer solstice: It’s all about sex
In many cultures, the longest day of the year is marked with celebrations meant to fan the flames of love and lust. – In Sweden, Midsummer is followed by a baby boom nine months later. – In Eastern Europe, the solstice is celebrated on Kupala Day, a kind of Slavic St. Valentine’s. – In some villages in Northern Greece, women gather around to exchange bawdy rhymes on the morning of the solstice.

2013/06/20: RTCC: GEF pushes climate finance support for developing nations
The Global Environment Facility’s role as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has involved – and will continue to involve – robust financial support for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects and programs throughout the developing world and in countries with economies in transition.

Post G8 commentary:

2013/06/20: RTCC: G8 climate and security link ‘significant’ says expert
A short line of text in this week’s G8 communique linking climate change to global security concerns could influence the way rising emissions are dealt with at an international level. Leaders cited climate change as a “contributing factor in increased economic and security risks globally”, a step former UK government advisor Tom Burke says is hugely significant. “That’s the first time I can recall an explicit statement from the G8 leaders that this is not an environmental issue. It is an economic and security issue,” he told RTCC.

The yearly South East Asian smog alert is up:

2013/06/23: ABC(Au): State of emergency declared in Malaysia due to haze
Malaysia has declared a state of emergency in two parts of the southern state of Johor as smoke from land-clearing fires in Indonesia has pushed air pollution above the level considered hazardous. The illegal burning of forests and other land on Indonesia’s Sumatra island to clear space for palm oil plantations is a chronic problem during the June-September dry season.

2013/06/22: BBC: Singapore mulls legal action over smog from Indonesia fires
Officials in Singapore say they are exploring whether to charge two Singapore-based companies in connection with severe smog triggered by forest fires in Indonesia. The companies own land on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Singapore’s foreign minister said he had asked the attorney-general to consider the legal options. However, he said it was mainly up to Indonesia to take action against the companies. The firms, Asia Pacific Resources International (April) and Sinar Mas, are headquartered in Singapore but have Indonesian owners.

2013/06/21: CNN: Singapore in haze over worsening smog
Singapore’s pollution index hits record high as smoke lingers over city state – Reading hits 401, while anything above 300 is considered “hazardous” – The smoke, caused by seasonal burn off in Sumatra, is straining political relations – Singapore PM says it could last for weeks, if not months

2013/06/20: BBC: New pollution high as haze chokes Singapore
Pollution levels reached a new record high for a third day in a row in Singapore, as smoky haze from fires in Indonesia shrouded the city state. The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit 401 at 12:00 on Friday (04:00 GMT) – the highest in the country’s history.

2013/06/17: BBC: Singapore hit by highest haze levels in 16 years
Singapore has been hit by severe haze from forest fires in nearby Indonesia, prompting a health alert from the government. The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reached 155 on Monday evening, well above the healthy limit of 100, and the highest level since 1997.

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
We’ll see.
At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile…
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

2013/06/19: BBerg: Tepco Finds Radioactive Water as Watchdog Sets Restart Rules
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) found unsafe levels of radioactivity in groundwater at its crippled Fukushima station, even as Japan’s nuclear regulator set the clock ticking on the restart of the nation’s idled reactors. The utility, known as Tepco, detected tritium levels of 500,000 becquerels per liter and strontium levels of 1,000 becquerels per liter at a monitoring well in its turbine complex at the Dai-ichi plant, it said in a statement today. Japan’s nuclear safety guidelines require tritium levels at nuclear plants to remain below 60,000 becquerels per liter and strontium levels below 30 becquerels per liter. Japan’s safety limit for radioactive materials in drinking water is 10 becquerels per liter.

2013/06/19: BBC: Fukushima nuclear plant: Toxic isotope found in groundwater
High levels of a toxic radioactive isotope have been found in groundwater at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator says. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said tests showed strontium-90 was present at 30 times the legal rate. The radioactive isotope tritium has also been detected at elevated levels.

2013/06/19: Xinhuanet: North American crops failing with reliance on GM biotechnologies: Study
Farmers in the United States and Canada who use genetically modified (GM) seeds have lower crop yields and use more chemicals than Western European farmers who grow non-GM crops, according to New Zealand research. The University of Canterbury study, which analyzed data on agricultural productivity in North America and Western Europe over the last 50 years, could help avoid food poverty.

And then there are the world’s forests:

2013/06/19: UBonn: The contribution of particulate matter to forest decline
Bonn University scientists demonstrate that hygroscopic air pollutants decrease tree drought tolerance Air pollution is related to forest decline and also appears to attack the protecting wax on tree leaves and needles. Bonn University scientists have now discovered a responsible mechanism: particulate matter salt compounds that become deliquescent because of humidity and form a wick-like structure that removes water from leaves and promotes dehydration.

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

2013/06/22: CSM: South Fork fire forces town to evacuate
Fire crews with tankers and hoses at the ready stood guard Friday night as a massive and fast-burning wildfire threatened a popular mountain tourist enclave in southwestern Colorado, forcing the evacuation of more than 400 people.

2013/06/17: BBC: China in carbon trading experiment
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is to launch its first carbon trading scheme as a pilot project in Shenzhen. The test scheme, which will be rolled out to seven areas by 2014, could be spread across the country after 2015.

2013/06/02: NYT: Obama’s Covert Trade Deal
The Obama administration has often stated its commitment to open government. So why is it keeping such tight wraps on the contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the most significant international commercial agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995?
[…]
Ron Kirk, until recently Mr. Obama’s top trade official, was remarkably candid about why he opposed making the text public: doing so, he suggested to Reuters, would raise such opposition that it could make the deal impossible to sign.

2013/06/20: RTCC: EU leaders urged to adopt 100% renewable energy target
A new lobby group has called for regional, national and European-wide legislators to achieve a 100% renewable energy target within the next four decades. The Global Alliance for 100% Renewable Energy, founded by World Future Council (WFC) and research institute Fraunhofer ISE among others, has criticised European governments of being the main hurdle in successfully combating climate change.

2013/06/19: ABC(Au): Federal Minister gets greater say over new CSG and coal mines
The Senate has agreed to give the Commonwealth Environment Minister broader approval powers over coal seam gas projects and large coal mines. The ‘Water Trigger’ amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act allows the Federal Environment Minister to consider the impact of CSG projects and large coal mines on water resources, in deciding whether or not to they should be approved. It passed the Senate with the support of all parties, despite unsuccessful Opposition and Greens attempts to further amend the legislation.

2013/06/19: ABC(Au): New tool makes carbon credit calculations much easier
Charles Darwin University’s Centre of Bushfire Research has today launched a tool to make calculating carbon credits much easier. It’s good news for Indigenous land owners and pastoralists, who up until now have had trouble with the complex systems to work out the carbon credit value of their fire management efforts. Research Fellow, Dr Andrew Edwards, says the Savanna Burning Abatement Tool, or SavBAT, is going to completely change the way carbon calculations are done.

The Climate Commission updated their Critical Decade report:

2013/06/18: ABC(Au): Miners knock back Climate Commission advice
The Minerals Council of Australia says there’s no environmental dividend to support a move away from coal, after the Climate Commission called for a slowdown in mining of fossil fuels. Yesterday, the commission released a report titled The Critical Decade 2013, suggesting fossil fuel extraction should be limited to slow consumption.

After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:

2013/06/20: ABC(Au): New legislation triggers strong support from landholders
Landholder group, the Basin Sustainability Alliance, has welcomed the Senate’s decision to give the Commonwealth Environment Minister broader approval powers over coal seam gas projects and large coal mines. The ‘water trigger’ amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act means any new coal seam gas or large coal projects that involve water reservoirs would need the assessment of an independent expert scientific committee before being approved.

2013/06/17: ABC(Au): ACF urges states to ‘get on with it’ on Basin Plan
The Australian Conservation Foundation says Australians are sick of states squabbling over the Murray-Darling, and it’s urging South Australia, NSW and Queensland to sign up to implement the Basin Plan. While the Plan was signed into law by Federal Water Minister Tony Burke in November, only Victoria and the ACT have so far signed the intergovernmental agreement on how to implement the Plan.

2013/06/17: ABC(Au): Senate to vote on “water trigger” amendment
An amendment to federal environment laws, aimed at protecting water systems impacted by mining and gas projects, was introduced into the Senate on Monday. Known as the “water trigger”, the bill prevents the Commonwealth devolving powers back to the States to rubber stamp projects with inadequate scientific or environmental analysis.

Just a touch of irony here:

The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

2013/06/18: G&M: Enbridge proposes spill fund to ease pipeline fears
Enbridge Inc. has rejected the national energy regulator’s demand to have almost $1-billion in liability coverage set aside for the Northern Gateway project, and is calling for the creation of an industry-bankrolled fund that would help pay for cleanup in the case of “a catastrophic oil release” from a Canadian pipeline.

In Manitoba, the Western Premiers had a gabfest in Winnipeg. All I heard in the local media was about bullying:

Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:

2013/06/20: CBC: Ontario cuts $3.7B from Samsung green energy deal — Province renegotiates $9.7B contract after Samsung misses deadlines
The value of the Ontario government’s signature green energy deal with Samsung has been slashed by $3.7 billion as the province reduces the amount of electricity it will buy from the South Korean company. Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli says the province will spend $6 billion to buy electricity produced by Samsung’s wind and solar projects, down from $9.7 billion in the original 2010 agreement. Chiarelli says Samsung missed some deadlines so the province was able to re-open negotiations and reduce the amount of electricity it will buy from 2,500 megawatts to 1,369 MW. Samsung’s original commitment to invest $7 billion in new manufacturing plants for green energy components as well as wind and solar power projects has been reduced to $5 billion under the renegotiated deal.

2013/06/18: Ohio: EPA study on fracking threat to water will take years
Cleveland: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is analyzing the threat that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, poses to drinking water, but that study won’t be completed until 2016. That assessment came Tuesday from Jeanne Briskin, coordinator of hydraulic fracturing research at the EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

Apocalypso anyone?

2013/06/16: CCurrents: The Fascist State Of America
[…]
President Barack Obama is a profound epic failure, in many ways worse than Über-fascist Bush, just a new black face on the American oil oligarchy’s long history of tyranny and warmongering. What a feeble, sellout, murdering, cynical disappointment Barack Obama has turned out to be. After killing a million Arabs and Muslims, Bush policies continued with vigor under Obama, has the U.S. avenged 9/11 yet? Or does America need to spy, torture, falsely imprison, and wage perma-war for years longer? Perhaps forever?
America is poised upon the precipice of becoming a totalitarian police state overseeing final global environmental collapse. As America is at risk of becoming a third-rate police state, all lovers of liberty – from the Tea Party to progressives – must come together to resist oppression, remain free, embrace justice and equity for all, and sustain our shared global environment. One can feel a libertarian-progressive alliance building to stop big nanny government from enslaving us while destroying our environment. A commitment to Green Liberty is the human family’s only path to sustained well-being.

2013/06/14: RT: LNG trade falls for first time in 30 years
In 2012 the global trade in liquefied natural gas (LNG) has suffered its first annual drop after three consecutive decades of expansion. The data published in the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2013 shows the LNG trade dropped 0.9 percent in 2012. The decline came for the first time since 1980 despite more countries entering the LNG market in recent years.

2013/06/17: BBerg: Nuclear Decommissioning Surge Is Investor Guessing Game
Nuclear utilities thrust into the spotlight after the Fukushima meltdowns have ordered 20 reactors shut, the most in a three-year span since Chernobyl’s aftermath, saddling the industry with a possible $26 billion in costs. EON SE and RWE AG are leading the biggest decommissioning project by European utilities ever, an effort to tear down 12 reactors in Germany over two decades. Edison International said June 7 it will never restart its idled two-unit San Onofre Generating Station outside Los Angeles, bringing the number of U.S. reactors permanently closed in a year to a record four. The global utility industry faces its biggest test to prove enough money was saved for shutdowns, having undergone numerous cost-overruns building atomic plants.

2013/06/21: KREM: Worst Hanford tank may be leaking into soil
The first ever double-shell tank to have leaked at Hanford may be in far worse condition than anyone imagined. Hanford workers conducting routine maintenance on the tank Thursday were shocked to find readings of radioactivity from material outside the tank.

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

A Simple Plea

Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer — no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field … and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

<regards>

-het

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.